


You Make Me Look Legitimate.

by Lanna Michaels (lannamichaels)



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: 2018 Winter Olympics, Coming Out, Fluff, Future Fic, Happy Ending, Hockey, M/M, Olympian Eric Bittle, POV Eric Bittle, Schmoop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-16
Updated: 2017-08-16
Packaged: 2018-12-16 06:48:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11823411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lannamichaels/pseuds/Lanna%20Michaels
Summary: Eric Bittle gets the call from the national team at 3AM.





	You Make Me Look Legitimate.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dsudis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dsudis/gifts).



> This is 100% Dira's fault and I have the chat log to prove it. :P The title is from I Make The Dough, You Get The Glory by Kathleen Edwards, which is a wonderful country song about Canadian hockey.

1.

Eric Bittle gets the call at three o'clock in the morning. It goes to voicemail. The second call wakes him up. Ugh. He wishes Jack would remember about time zones. And he'll remind Jack of that once he's finished waking up enough to _find_ his phone--

It's not Jack.

"Bittle," says someone who _really_ isn't Jack, oh my god, oh my god, this is not a drill, this is not a drill, oh my god, "start packing your bags for PyeongChang."

Bitty's country needs him. He's going to _step the fuck up_.

 

2.

Playing in France had just kinda happened? Bitty doesn't have an agent so much as he has parents who give him advice that he doesn't always want, and who have taken all the phone calls related to Bitty's youtube channel since Bitty first hit a hundred thousand subscribers. He also has Shitty, who told him to explore his options because sometimes you don't know you want to do something until you're already halfway through it.

And Bitty figured, he didn't know exactly what he wanted to do, so why not try something? He can always try something else later. He's always wanted to see Europe, and he could for sure get some great footage out of it. He could even do a series on learning different food techniques from different cities.

But it was Jack who pushed him over the edge. Jack who said, "you love hockey". Jack who said, "look into this". Jack who said, "I think you might love this". 

Jack who said, "I'll still be here when you get home".

 

3.

And then, like, the NHL decided to sit out the 2018 Olympics. And there was Eric Bittle, not precisely the best college hockey player ever. And there was Eric Bittle, not exactly the leading light of European hockey. But there was Eric Bittle, a professional hockey player without an NHL contract.

And, like, he was pretty low down on their list? It's not like they sent out ratings showing how far down he was, but Bitty figured, correctly, that even if you take out all the NHL folks, and then all the AHL folks on NHL contracts, there's still a lot of American hockey players who would beat him out for a spot.

Except there aren't enough American wingers that they won't call him up once five or six or fourteen people have to withdraw themselves because of injuries or failed doping tests or, in one case, getting a really great non-hockey job that he couldn't turn down.

And so now Eric Bittle, Samwell '17, is on the United States Olympic team and, uh, wow, he did not see that coming.

 

4.

The USOC has actual trainings and actual policies on social media use in the time leading up to the Games, and even stronger policies on social media use at the Games. These trainings don't seem to really be written with the understanding that a random fourth line hockey player could have a youtube channel with several million followers and it has nothing -- or, at least, very little -- to do with his sport.

But Bitty isn't in this to get thrown off the team for inappropriate behavior. He's already more visible than normal because he's so far out of the closet, they ain't ever going to be able to shove him back in again. So he takes great care not to mention any of this on his channel, but something gets out anyway, because suddenly half the comments he gets are along the lines of, ahem, polite inquiries on who does he think he is, or if he is who they suspect he is, and even a few blessed souls who ask him if he really thinks he's good enough to go to the Olympics if he spends more time in a frilly apron than in hockey pads.

And then Jack goes and blows everything up by giving an interview about how proud he is of his Samwell teammate, how hard Bitty's worked to get there, and how Jack will be cheering for the US, and not Canada, to win gold.

And after that, well, that cat isn't going back into that bag.

 

5.

Bitty's parents are trying, they really are. They saw the whole "boyfriend" thing coming and had braced for impact. It's not the best topic of conversation in the Bittle household, but it's still out there. But even though they were resigned to a potential-boyfriend, they haven't shown much interest in meeting the actual-boyfriend.

Except now Bitty's on the phone with his mom and she's asking, "does your boyfriend need us to chip in so he can watch you in South Korea?"

Because Bitty's parents and grandparents and extended family are moving heaven and earth so as many of them as possible can come and watch all his games. Bitty's been on the e-mail chains. Jack had even dropped some money into one of the fundraisers, buying some hand-made earrings from Bitty's second cousin Gertrude.

"No, he won't be able to make it," Bitty says, and figures that's over and done with, parents asked and Bitty answered, an olive branch was extended and accepted, now we move on. Except Bitty's mom inhales sharply and Bitty proactively moves the phone away from his ear.

"He won't be able to make it?" Bitty's mom demands.

"He can't get off work," Bitty tries, but his mom is really getting into it about how going to the Olympics is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and how can he be supportive, etc etc, and this is the part where Bitty remembers they don't know it's Jack.

Um, oops?

"It's Jack, mom. I'm dating Jack," Bitty says. "And the NHL isn't breaking, that's why I'm going in the first place, so--"

"Oh, _Jack_ ," Mom says, like she's just so relieved to hear it. "You could have told us sooner, Eric."

"It didn't come up?" Bitty tries, mostly lying. It didn't come up because both he and his parents made sure it didn't come up. Bitty shifts the phone and texts quickly to Jack: 'I just told my mom about you'. Jack texts back several encouraging emojis while Bitty's mom enthuses over how Jack is a nice boy and how he'll have to come visit again so they can meet him properly.

So that's good. That's better than Bitty had expected.

 

6.

The Olympics are--

The Olympics are--

The Olympics are--

It's just, Bitty's never competed internationally for his country before. And high school and college had not prepared him for being around all these different kinds of athletes, all at the pinnacle of their sports. And he's never been to anything on this scale, ever.

Everyone here is in team uniform, or wearing a lanyard, and there's a thousand volunteers able to point him in the right direction when he gets lost, and there's Olympics stuff _everywhere_ , and there's so many different things going on and--

"I really hope you get to go to Beijing," he says to Jack on skype. "I feel bad that I can't really explain how fucking awesome this whole experience is." He's lying on his back on the bed and he can't stop grinning. He can't even remember what time it is on the east coast, but Jack's in charge of making sure their schedules line up enough so they can talk every day. Jack's got a road trip somewhere in the middle, Bitty does remember that part. He's usually really good at remembering Jack's schedule but, well, Olympics.

Before the Games, Bitty had done a lot more press than someone in his position normally would. There was the hometown press, of course, and there was the Samwell student papers, and there was even some local press in Dijon, which was super flattering since he was going to be playing for the US and not France, and also Bitty's French language skills are terrible. 

But then there was the gay press. The USOC even set up some interviews specially for it; Bitty doesn't know the history there but he bets it's involved a ton of drama and trauma over the years, but, hey, now they're promoting their queer athletes, and that includes Bitty's queer ass. There's Bitty and three other out folks this year on the US Olympic team and they'd all sat there and answered questions from a bunch of different papers and magazines and blogs and then they'd all collectively made the cover of the Advocate. 

The point is, Bitty's answered the question of "do you have a boyfriend" enough times for Jack to start getting weird about it again. Bitty's got his pat answer, that he has a boyfriend but his boyfriend's a private kind of guy who prefers not to be identified. But Jack's been worrying at it, like this is back at Samwell when Bitty was stressing out over being partially put back into the closet because he couldn't tell their closest friends that he was with Jack. But this is nothing like that. All of Bitty's nearest and dearest know he's with Jack. Bitty doesn't need to go tell the world he's with Jack.

Would he like to? Sure. But this is Jack's _career_. Bitty's at the Olympics, sure, but he's not under the delusion that that means he's going to be spending his life as a hockey player. Even spending the last year as a hockey player had been more happenstance than anything else. Bitty's enjoying the hell out of the ride, but this ride is gonna end soon; it's part of what makes it so much fun. He's going to do this and then have it as a fond memory. But Jack could easily play in the NHL for the next ten years. This is something that could make his next contract shorter or cheaper, could lose him minutes on the ice, could backfire in so many different and horrible ways, and maybe no one would say it's because of the gay thing, but it would always be _there_ , like maybe it was.

Bitty's life both in and out of the closet has not been all sunshine and rainbows. He doesn't regret being out, but there's been moments where he's wished it could be just a bit easier sometimes. He doesn't think straight people keep having these non-conversations with each other in looks and shakes of the head, in the way Jack has framed all of the articles about Bitty that he can get his hands on, but how he _doesn't like it_ when one of the other out folks can talk about their husband or wife, and Bitty won't talk about Jack. And this is all going to end in tears, probably, and Bitty making a lot of jam once he's home, for sure.

Because Bitty's having a light shined on his life for these two weeks but Jack, by his own choice, has to remain in the shadows, and Bitty can tell that it's driving Jack up the wall upside down and sideways.

And Jack doesn't want Bitty thinking about it, he wants Bitty focusing on hockey, but the US has just won their first two group stage games, and Bitty had scored once and gotten three assists, and Jack's just so proud, and Bitty's so happy, and Jack's so happy for him, but Jack can't tweet like he wants to, can't say what he wants to, and--

\--and, well, it's the Olympics. If you're going to be young and stupid, it may as well be at the Olympics.

Or because of the Olympics, as the case may be.

 

7.

Jack Zimmermann (verified): Congratulations to my boyfriend @EricBittle on scoring the game winning goal against #Slovenia. I've never been prouder. #GoUSA #PyeongChang2018 #15ReasonsToBittle

Eric Bittle: Congratulations to @JackZimmermann on being the first star tonight. #Falconers #Avalanche #BestBoyfriendEver

Adam Birkholtz: .@JackZimmermann @EricBittle don't think I can't still fine the both of you for PDA.

 

8.

The Olympics aren't all hockey and knocking down closet doors. They go as a team to watch ice dancing and luge, and Bitty meets up with some friends on the French team to cheer on the skiers. He makes sure he sees his family every few days and he always looks for them in the crowd at games. And there's just a ton of sex happening, like, _everywhere_ and _constantly_. Bitty's kind of impressed. He'd lived in a frat house with athletes and he's never before walked in on as much sex as he has here. He makes sure to save a few Olympic-branded condoms to bring home to Jack. 

And then there's youtube, which is, like, a constant _thing_. He's gotten the lecture from the USOC about what he can and can't do with his channel, so he's mostly making a huge in-joke with all of his followers that he just happens to be in South Korea for no reason at all. He just so happens to go sight-seeing to see a really big torch, being extra careful not to get the Olympic Rings in the shot, because he's had the fear of the litigiousness of the IOC burned into his soul. He just so happens to interview a lot of athletes about their favorite kinds of pie, without ever mentioning what competition they're all here for.

It had been a trickle and then a flood of questions, and then once Jack came out, that dam just burst. It's a torrential downpour of attention and he's not the breakout star of the Games, that's for those with better agents, but he's becoming kind of an underground sensation, if he does say so himself. It's... it's really weird. He doesn't understand how this stuff even happens; the only thing he's sure of is that his fifteen minutes are going to end at the Closing Ceremonies. And thank goodness. This is all really flattering, but it's not real life. It's the Olympics. It's something special and, just, _overwhelming_. It's like nothing else. 

And there's Jack on skype, being so proud of him and so happy for him. And-- and Bitty just loves him so much. He doesn't know how he could do any of this without Jack. He loves him so much. There's no one he wants to share this with more than he wants to share this with Jack. This never would have happened without Jack. He never would have done well at Samwell if Jack hadn't been there, if Jack hadn't decided to teach him how to take a check, if Jack hadn't been Jack. None of this would ever have happened. Bitty's so lucky. So lucky, you know? This all nearly didn't happen at all, but it did, and that's because of Jack, and Bitty just loves him so much.

"Yeah, okay," a blurry outline of one of his teammates says, patting Bitty hard on the back and giving him more kleenex. "We get it, you love your boyfriend. Now sober up. Tomorrow's the last practice before the semifinals. Canada's gonna be rough. We need to be ready."

 

9.

They don't beat Canada.

But, two days later, they do beat Sweden.

 

10.

 **Eric Richard "Bitty" Bittle** (born May 5, 1995) is an [American]() former [ice hockey]() player and current television personality. He was a member of the [bronze medal winning team at the 2018 Winter Olympics]() and had previously played for the [Ducs de Dijon]() and for [Samwell University]() in [Samwell, Massachusetts]()[[1]](). He retired from hockey following the Olympics[[1]]() to focus instead on a career in cooking. His upcoming show, [Bittle's Baking Battle]()[ [2]](), will debut July 23, 2018 and will focus on the challenges of feeding large groups of people on limited time, space, and budget[[1]](). He is engaged to [Providence Falconers]() forward [Jack Zimmermann]()[[3]]()[[4]]()[[5]]().


End file.
